Alright, so you watched the Emmys last night (or you got the recap this morning) and now you’re curious what all the hype’s about. Well if it isn’t your lucky day; we just so happen to have a list of which Emmy Winners you can watch for free online, and where to buy the ones you can’t:
Winner for Outstanding Reality Competition Program: Top Chef
Currently, Bravo is serving up the 3 most recent episodes for free on Hulu. If you want more, you’ll have to head to iTunes or Amazon on Demand for $1.99 an episode. We recommend paying for the first 10 episodes of this season ($19.90) then adding the show to your Clicker Playlist to get notified every time a new episode is online. Each episode is free for a limited time, but if you stay on top of it you’ll end up saving about 5 bucks on the second half of the season.
Bottom line: If you want to watch more than the three free available episodes, you’re gonna have to shell out some cash.
Winner for Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men
Mad Men does not stream online for free. Sometimes AMC will offer up a season premiere, but only to snatch it away, leaving us desperate for more. Our only solace is its Web Series counterpart called Inside “Mad Men” – it offers a really cool glance into how they make the show so authentic, from costumes to props to in-depth character analysis.
If you’d like to Mad Men in its entirety, you should buy Seasons 1, 2 and 3 on Amazon (cheaper than iTunes). If you have a Netflix account, you should add all three seasons to your queue (saves you at least $57). It’s not available for Watch Instantly. For Season 4, you’ll have to pay per episode, because it’s also not available on Watch Instantly.
Bottom line: Netflix is your friend. It’ll save you some major cash, unless you’re into the current season.
Winner for Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family
If we’ve learned anything from Modern Family’s first season, it’s that the show will offer every episode in Season 2 for free online through ABC.com and Hulu. If you want to recap Season 1 (and you should) you’ll have to purchase it through Amazon for $23.99. Amazon beats iTunes’ prices on the series. You can also add it to your Netflix queue, but like Mad Men, this is not offered for Watch Instantly. Hulu Plus offers the complete first season, but that also requires a paid subscription.
Bottom line: Once Season 2 begins, it will be really easy to watch the entire season for free online, so long as you stay on top of it (or add it to your Clicker Playlist).
Winner for Outstanding Variety Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Hooray, Comedy Central! The Daily Show is good at offering a plethora of episodes for free at a time through Fancast and Comedy Central. Currently there are 30 free episodes available online. Yes! Each new episode shows up the very next day, so it’s super easy to stay on top of this show online.
Bottom line: You can get everything you need from this show for free online.
Winners for Outstanding Acting In A Drama Series:
Lead Actor: Bryan Cranston (as Walter White in Breaking Bad) & Supporting Actor: Aaron Paul (as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad):
Like Mad Men, there are no free episodes available online for Breaking Bad. You’ll have to pay through iTunes or Amazon. There is a really cool Web Series, though, called Breaking Bad Minisodes, which actually stars both Emmy Award Winning actors, so you can get a really accurate taste for their talents without even having to watch the series.
Lead Actresss: Kyra Sedgwick (as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson in The Closer):
TNT is pretty good about offering the most recent episodes of The Closer for free online. You can purchase the first five seasons on Amazon or iTunes (again, Amazon is a bit cheaper), but so long as you check in to the Closer online each week, you’ll be able to get through the rest of the current season without having to drop a dime.
Supporting Actress: Archie Panjabi (as Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife):
The Good Wife’s was great at getting free episodes up a day after they’d air during it’s first and only season. Right now, you can catch the last 5 episodes through CBS.com and TV.com but if you want it all you’ll have to head to iTunes. It is not available through Amazon or on Watch Instantly for Netflix. As far as The Good Wife’s next season is concerned, we can only assume it will behave as it did last year, so you’ll be able to tune in for free online through the run of Season 2.
Winners for Outstanding Acting In A Comedy Series:
Lead Actor: Jim Parsons (as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory):
The Big Bang Theory’s Internet saga is a sad one. That is to say, it doesn’t exist. This show has never been offered for free online, and there’s no telling if it ever will. If you’re looking to watch this on your computer, you’re going to have to give some kind of sacrificial offering to the CBS execs (but please don’t) because you can’t even get it through iTunes or Amazon. Netflix subscribers, add it to your queue, because it’s not on Watch Instantly. This show is what we’d like to call Internet-MIA.
Supporting Actor: Eric Stonestreet (as Cameron Tucker in Modern Family):
As we mentioned earlier in this post, you’ll get a chance to witness Eric Stonestreet’s hilarity as Cameron Tucker for free if you’re down to start with Season 2. Otherwise, you’ll need to toss some cash at Amazon, iTunes, or Netflix.
Lead Actress: Edie Falco (as Jackie Peyton in Nurse Jackie):
Showtime only offers the first episode of each season for free online, so if you just want a minor sampling of Edie Falco’s incredible talent, you could tune in to the Season 2 premiere. Otherwise, it’s off to Amazon (once again cheaper than iTunes) to get all of Season 1. Season 2 is not yet available for streaming of any kind, but you can buy the DVD on Amazon if you just can’t wait.
Supporting Actress: Jane Lynch (as Sue Sylvester in Glee):
FOX is currently rotating through its first and only season of Glee on FOX.com and Hulu, offering a sampling of 5 episodes (currently episodes 8-13) so you can get a good sense of what this show (and Lynch’s performance) is all about. You can also purchase the season on Amazon on Demand or iTunes. Once again, Amazon is cheaper. Hulu Plus offers the complete first season, as well. For more on Lynch’s hilarious performance style, you can purchase Seasons 1 and 2 of Party Down, in which she is just as brilliant.
The bottom line is that right now there’s more for pay than there is for free online, but if you work the system the right way (and hook yourself up with a Netflix account) you can avoid dropping all of your bank on missed episodes that you wished you’d been able to catch when they were airing in the first place.
